Thursday, January 19, 2017

Thousands hold ‘Global Protest Day’ to support world’s largest mangrove forest
BANGLADESH - Plans for a huge power plant situated near the world’s largest mangrove forest in Bangladesh has incited outrage from many Bangladeshi conservationists and citizens. Recently, those in other countries rose up to show their criticism of the project, with a Global Protest Day stirring protests around the world. Environmental NGO representatives estimate thousands of people took to the streets on Saturday, January 7, to show their opposition to the Rampal power plant and their support of the Sundarbans mangrove. The Sundarbans lies along the northern shore of the Bay of Bengal, straddling the border between India and Bangladesh. Encompassing more than 10,000 square kilometers (3,860 square miles), the mangrove is the world’s largest and provides habitat for around 700 animal and 340 plant species. Endangered Bengal tigers roam its forests, as do huge, cow-like animals called gaurs, which are listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN. Its waters are home to the only two remaining species of freshwater dolphins in Asia: the threatened Irrawaddy river dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris) and the endangered Ganges river dolphin (Platanista gangetica). Because of its ecological importance, the Sundarbans is recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site; it’s also a Ramsar bird conservation area. READ MORE

ASIA

Maharashtra ties up with ISRO to save mangroves
INDIA - As mangrove destruction continues unabated in Mumbai and along the Konkan coast with several cases piling up over the past two years, the Maharashtra Forest department is tying up with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to track the mangrove destruction through real-time satellite imagery, a first in India. Officials from the Mumbai Mangrove Conservation Unit told HT that over the next six months, real-time satellite maps for mangroves across Maharashtra will be acquired by the cell. After talks with scientists from ISRO last year, the cell received a proposal from the former in December 2016, wherein an open source software — digital tracking through satellite maps — acquisition were discussed. “Monitoring the destruction of mangroves by physically entering the forests has its limitations,” said N Vasudevan, chief conservator of forest, state mangrove cell. “The idea is to track destructions as it happens through satellite images from the confines of a room, and reduce the time gap for taking action in such cases.” READ MORE

Marsh man helps protect mangrove forest in Vietnam
VIETNAM - For nearly three decades, a 71-year-old man decided to live on a marsh islet to protect a mangrove forest in Vietnam. A 71-year-old man chose to live in an oasis that is far from his neighbors and unconnected to the power grid and water supply. He has lived this life for almost 30 years and remains content with it, as he guards a mangrove forest area. Nguyen Ngoc Dap says living in the marsh islet Ru Cha was always good for him, and it has been even better as marsh resources helped to feed his 10 children. No power, no water supply, and an Internet connection is an understandable concept that has never existed in his mind, but Dap always smiles while talking about his life. “I feel contented with this. This marsh fed me and my children, so I have nothing to blame it for, even during the tough weather in the flooding season,” he says. READ MORE

Mangrove forests to be made tourist destinations
INDIA - Minister for forest and animal husbandry, K Raju, has said the mangrove areas, which are known for their biodiversity and natural beauty, would be conserved and made into international tourist destinations. The minister said this after visiting the mangrove areas in Cherukunnu, Pattuvam, Ezhom and other localities in Kannur district on Saturday, on the invitation of T V Rajesh, MLA. The minister had the boat journey in the area for over one hour. Later, he also said a comprehensive project would be made in three months to make the mangrove areas as tourist destinations. He also said the mangrove forests have already been declared reserve forests in Kannur. Also, efforts are going on to acquire the mangrove forests in the private possession, he added. READ MORE

AMERICAS

Could mangrove northern expansion temper global warming?
USA - Mangroves are expanding in Florida and worldwide, because of global warming, according to new research funded by NASA. The trees are encroaching on salt marshes at the Kennedy Space Center and elsewhere on the globe. Fewer hard freezes due to global warming means more mangroves will flourish in Florida and worldwide to trap carbon and temper further warming, new NASA-funded research concludes. The mangrove’s poleward march doubles how much carbon coastal wetlands can store per acre, “which may exert a considerable negative feedback on warming,” according to the study, led by researchers at Villanova University. What’s more, as mangroves — bushy, salt-tolerant trees that grow in brackish waters — crowd out salt marshes and plant firmer roots farther north, they’ll better guard against Florida’s rising seas and stronger storms predicted by global warming. And the mangrove revival researchers recently documented at Kennedy Space Center shows these leafy ecological gems can rebound from freezes that nearly wipe them out, if left undisturbed. READ MORE

Wildfires, sea level rise, coral bleaching: Climate change is already here
From extreme wildfires in the Western United States to melting ice sheets in Antarctica, the effects of rising temperatures on Earth have not gone unnoticed. NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced 2016 was the hottest year on record. Before that, the record was set in 2015. Before that, it was 2014. Both agencies linked the record-breaking temperatures to human-caused climate change. Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases released by cars, factories and power plants trap more heat in the atmosphere, causing temperatures to climb upward. Although the most severe consequences of this warming have yet to come — especially if greenhouse gas emissions remain at current levels — some of the effects have already been felt. Scientists, public health officials and even the Pentagon are watching with great concern. READ MORE

EUROPE

Environmentalists Rallied with Bangladeshis to Save the Sundarbans on Global Day of Protest
UK - Saturday, the 7th January 2017, has been celebrated as a Global Day of Protest to Save the Sunderbans and to stop the Rampal coal-power plant. Alongside nationwide protests in Bangladesh, UK’s green activists together with environmentalists of Bangladeshi community in the UK staged a colourful and loud demonstration at Altab Ali Park in London. Over 40 community activists and many transnational environmentalists rallied with beautiful placards and banners displaying powerful images of tigers, rivers, trees, humans and signs of large waving hands as symbols of ‘NO’. They shouted “‘No’ to Rampal Power Plant”. In the two hour-rally, organised by the Committee to Protect Oil-Gas-Mineral Resources, Power and Port in Bangladesh, speakers said that it is incredible that Bangladeshi government entered a deal with Indian corporations to build coal-fired plant in Rampal, which would leave devastating impact on 50 million people in Bangladesh and the world’s largest mangrove, called the Sundarbans. READ MORE

Scientists highlight the critical role of birds in forest regeneration
UK - The loss of birds could significantly impact efforts to combat deforestation, according to research from scientists looking at species across the Brazilian Amazon. Study results, published in the Journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences show that the understanding of animals and their physical traits is vital to saving tropical ecosystems. According to the research, understanding land-use change is important because tropical forests are integral to the long-term stability of global air quality and climate cycles. The health of tropical forests is reliant on biodiversity - and is helped by animals spreading seeds to regenerate growth. In fact it is thought 90% of tropical tree and shrub species rely on animals for seed dispersal. READ MORE

Expert Warning: Current Conservation Efforts Won’t Save Tropical Forests
UK - A focus on policies to conserve tropical forests for their carbon storage value may imperil some of the world's most biologically rich tropical forests, says new research. Many countries have climate-protection policies designed to conserve tropical forests to keep their carbon locked up in trees. But the new study suggests these policies could miss some of the most diverse forests because there is no clear connection between the number of tree species in a forest and how much carbon that forest stores. Lead author Dr Martin Sullivan, from the School of Geography at the University of Leeds, said: "International programmes often encourage the conservation of forests with high carbon stocks, because their focus is to try to slow climate change. Until now, we didn't know whether these programmes would also automatically protect the most biodiverse forests. It turns out they probably won't." READ MORE

OCEANIA

Massive dieback of mangrove forests is slowing down
AUSTRALIA - The Dieback that has affected large swaths of mangrove forests in the Gulf of Carpentaria appears to have slowed. More indigenous rangers have been recruited to monitor the unprecedented dieback of 7000ha of coastal vegetation that was first observed more than a year ago stretching from near Karumba to 1000km west. The causes are still unknown, but researchers believe it has been linked to climate change. The event coincided with the worst coral bleaching event recorded on the Great Barrier Reef. James Cook University researcher Professor Norm Duke said the dieback ­appeared to have slowed in recent months. “The status is that it hasn’t increased,” he said. “It’s basically stabilised and now the environment is just dealing with the consequences. READ MORE

Microbes rule in 'knee-high tropical rainforests'
AUSTRALIA - Rainforests on infertile wet soils support more than half of all plant species. Shrublands on infertile dry soils in southwestern Australia, jokingly called "knee-high tropical rainforests", support another 20 percent of all plants. Nutrient scarcity is the common denominator. In both ecosystems plants team up with soil bacteria or fungi to gather nutrients more efficiently. However, the plants' choice of microbial teammates influences a suite of other plant-soil interactions that help explain why such different environments are so biologically diverse, say Smithsonian scientists and colleagues in the journal, Science. Soil swarms with bacteria and fungi, some disease-causing and harmful, some helpful. Plants take advantage of networks of fungal hyphae and bacteria to capture nitrogen, phosphorus and other nutrients from their surroundings. Depending which microbes a plant teams up with—nitrogen-fixing bacteria, mycorrhizal fungi or no microbes at all (some plants form cluster roots that do not require microbial partners), it experiences positive or negative feedback from other microbes in its surroundings. READ MORE

LAST WORD

Thank you for your Year-End donations! Donations are gladly accepted throughout the year. Happy 2017!

Please cut and paste these news alerts/ action alerts on to your own lists and contacts. Help us spread the word and further generate letters of concern, as this can make a big difference in helping to halt a wrongdoing or encourage correct action.

ACTION ALERTS WANTED: MAP News is looking for links to calls to actions/petitions and letter writing campaigns on mangrove issues, tropical coastal communities and other related topics. Not all submissions can be selected, but we look forward to hearing about your work and want to let our readers' voice be heard!
Email submissions to news@mangroveactionproject.org

Action Alerts:

The world's largest mangrove forest is in danger from a massive coal plant.UNESCO can put pressure on India and Bangladesh to protect the forest, but they need to see that people around the world are speaking out. Click here to add your voice

MAP is happy to announce that we are now accepting orders for our 2017 Children's Mangrove Art Calendar . This is our 16th annual edition of Children's Mangrove Art, and this Calendar is celebrating MAP's 25th Anniversary! Please order your calendars now, and help us celebrate a quarter century of MAP's work to Save the Mangroves!"

Mangrove rehabilitation in Asia – Local Action and cross-border Transfer of Knowledge for the Conservation of Climate, Forests and Biodiversity VIEW VIDEOS HERESTOP PLANTING MANGROVES ON SEAGRASS BEDS _ A CALL TO ACTION

Our short documentary, Reducing the Risk of Disaster through Nature-Based Solutions : Mangroves

Exclusive Interview with Alfredo Quarto, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Mangrove Action Project - See more

Marvellous Mangroves Curriculum

MAP Education Director Martin Keeley’s most recent book is Marvellous Mangroves: Myths and Legends, a compilation of stories from “Mangrove Peoples”—those who live on shorelines where mangroves thrive—from around the world. READ MORE

“Education In The Mangroves" can now be seen on the PhotoPhilanthropy websitehere!

Read this 10 page history of the development of MAP’s educational curriculum VIEW DOCUMENT

MAP’s e-Cards offer you a unique way to spread the word about MAP’s good works, while sharing beautiful photographs of the mangroves

Donate to MAP via Paypal
Giving could never be easier

It’s the action, not the fruit of the action, that's important. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there'll be any fruit. But that doesn't mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result. —Mahatma Gandhi

VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT

Mira Maude Chouinard, MAP’s Latin America Assistant Project Coordinator, is a graduate of the University of British Columbia with a degree in environmental science and of Humber College with a certificate in international program management. She worked for Falls Brook Centre and coordinated a community resilience and mangrove restoration project in Honduras, in cooperation with local NGOs and the multinational DOLE Food Company. As they encountered issues with the traditional planting method, she discovered MAP and the CBEMR method and was relieved to have found a successful long-term mangrove restoration method. She is fluent in French, English and Spanish. mira.chouinard@gmail.com Volunteer Opportunities with Mangrove Action Project CLICK HERE

Information sheds clear light on shrimp-mangrove connection

Mangrove Action Project

Note to Our Readers:We strive to keep active links in our newsletter. However, due to circumstances beyond our control, occasionally links to stories may become broken. If you find a link to a story is not functioning, please cut and paste the headline into your browser search bar. In most cases you should be able to locate the original story.

Friday, January 6, 2017

MAP Director steps down after 10 years of dedicated support
USA - It is with both joy and sadness that we announce Fiona Wilmot is leaving MAP’s Board of Directors. After over 10 years of dedicated service on the Board, she is transitioning to MAP’s Board of Advisors. She joined our Board early on when MAP transitioned from a project of Earth Island Institute back in 2006 to become our own 501 (c) 3 non-profit. We at MAP would like to thank Fiona for all the hard work and dedication she has given to MAP over those years, especially during more challenging times when she helped to bolster MAP and keep us on track to conserve and restore mangroves. We thank Dr. Fiona Wilmot for all she has done and does for our blue planet! We wish her great success in the work she is doing, and look forward to working with her in the years to come, seeking her sage advice and helpful hand in working towards a future for a healthy planet that includes mangroves and mangrove communities! READ MORE

AFRICA

Foreign trawlers devastate fisheries in Cameroon, navy deployed to seize illegal vessels
CAMAROON - The West African nation of Cameroon is experiencing a steep drop in wild fish stocks. Local communities that depend on coastal fisheries say foreign vessels, many of them Chinese in origin, are illegally trawling in domestic waters and depleting their catch. FSRN’s Ngala Killian Chimtom reports from Limbe, Cameroon. About a dozen women hover over charcoal cooking fires, grilling freshly-caught fish from the waters near Limbe, a seaside city of more than 80,000 where fisheries remain a major source of livelihood. But these days the future looks bleak for many fisher folk who depend on wild fish stocks. Foreign factory trawlers, mainly from China according to local anecdotes, are illegally harvesting the prized “Bonga chad,” a species that averages about 10 inches long and is a smoked delicacy here. Chinese trawlers are casting wide nets, scraping the fishing grounds clean, which fish merchant Nicoline Tabot says are depriving her community of the prized Bonga. “If you go to the market now, you will see just some small, small fish,” Tabot says. “You will not see anything good.” READ MORE

On the hunt for dynamite fishers in Tanzania
TANZANIA - South of the port city of Dar Es Salaam, right on the coast, about 50 simple stone houses huddle under the palm fronds. Omari Mussa, who until recently made his living as a fisherman, grew up here. Mussa's skin is tanned by the sun, and he's missing a finger on his left hand, blown off by a mistimed throw of a bomb - his tool of choice when it came to reeling in the sea bream and red snapper. "It's dangerous," he said. "Nevertheless, everybody here used this technique. Fishing with the usual methods is hardly worthwhile." Detonating a bomb in a coral reef can net fishermen up to 100 fish - and lots of money. The shockwave from the blast pops the air bladder in every living creature within a radius of 5 to 20 meters, depending on the amount of explosive used. Fish sink to the bottom, and fishermen then collect the largest. In a fraction of a second, the bomb transforms a brightly-colored reef teeming with life into an underwater desert. For that reason, dynamite fishing has been outlawed. READ MORE

ASIA

Mangrove Nature Trail and Learning Center Opening!!!
THAILAND - 19th of December of 2016 was a milestone day for the Mangrove Action Project (MAP) staff and the community of Baan Ta Sanook (TSN), located in Phang Nga Province, South Thailand. After months of planning, building and organising, the Mangrove Nature Trail and the Learning Center was officially opened at a special ceremony and finally ready to receive visitors! The mangrove nature trail is a 70-meter walkway which is partly raised concrete so is always dry even at high tide and traverses through a biodiverse mangrove stand allowing you to have a close-up experience with the mangrove ecosystem. It was constructed carefully so not a single mangrove tree had to be cut down. READ MORE

One man is planting mangroves in Indonesia to stave off tragedy
INDONESIA - There’s a spot in the Indonesian seaside village of Tongke-Tongke where people like to hang out at sunset. It’s a boardwalk winding through a dense forest of mangroves along the coast. The tangled root systems of the trees poke out of the water, like tent poles holding up the tree trunks. Teenagers in this town of roughly 3,000 people take selfies with the dense leafy canopy as a backdrop, while families stroll along the boardwalk. None of this may have been here if it weren’t for Hidayat Palaloi. “Before, this area was not like this, it was just empty land, coastline and a beach,” says Palaloi, the head of a mid-sized conservation nonprofit based in Makassar, Indonesia, called the Indonesian Self Growth Foundation. READ MORE

Mangroves: The Forests of the Tide
CHINA - A new art exhibition in Yangon shows the strange beauty of mangrove forests and the important role they play in the wider ecosystem. In 2008 Cyclone Nargis swept in over the Bay of Bengal and across the Irrawaddy delta, killing 130,000 people and displacing many more. Nothing broke the power of the cyclone as it hit the coast; the destruction of mangroves had left Myanmar’s coastline exposed to the devastating force of the tropical storm. Mangroves are a delta’s natural defence against nature’s fury, absorbing the onslaught of cyclones, winds, floods and tidal surges. The dense tangle of roots trap silt and stabilise the coast, preventing erosion. The trees also absorb five times more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than rainforests, which means they play a huge role in mitigating global climate change. A new art exhibition in Yangon shows the strange beauty of these complex ecosystems and the important functions the mangrove forests play in the wider ecosystem. READ MORE

Replant mangroves, check pollution
INDIA - Replant mangroves that are damaged during construction, develop green belt and fit construction equipment with mufflers and exhaust silencers to minimise sound pollution at the southern phase of the coastal road are some of the conditions laid down by the state’s green authority while approving one phase of the road in Mumbai. After the ambitious Rs 12,000 crore coastal road project was split in two parts, the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) has given a go ahead to the southern stretch (Princess street flyover to Bandra) of the road, but not without laying 12 conditions before recommending the southern stretch to the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF). Meanwhile, civic officials said all the conditions are already taken care of and approval from the MoEF is awaited. Civic chief Ajoy Mehta, said, “We have got clearance from the MCZMA and now we are awaiting nod from the central government.” READ MORE

Storm in a Gallery: Delhi’s Exhibit 320 sheds light on endangered mangrove system
INDIA - The Delhi-based artist, through her work that spans prints, photographs, videos and installations, unveils tales of the various mangrove ecosystems in India, with special focus on the Coromandel and Malabar coasts. The Delhi-based artist, through her work that spans prints, photographs, videos and installations, unveils tales of the various mangrove ecosystems in India, with special focus on the Coromandel and Malabar coasts. Mehra-Chawla, 39, who’s been working on the subject for more than half a decade now, says, “It’s important to bring this topic up because the mangrove systems are vulnerable and fragile, and at the same time form an important membrane between land and sea. When that membrane ruptures, we are susceptible to impending danger. These mangroves buffer us from erosion and also help in slowing down the speed of hurricanes.” READ MORE

AMERICAS

MSC Ecolabel Trashed by Founder
USA - World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) ignited a firestorm with a detailed … and leaked … report castigating the MSC (Marine Stewardship Council), one of the best known labeling organizations. The report questions the non-profit’s neutrality, process and overall effectiveness in adequately protecting the resource and objectively informing consumers about the sustainability of the seafood they purchase. The colossal irony here is that WWF was one of the key founders of MSC, a non-governmental organization (NGO). And now it has become an outspoken critic. Here is a link to the leaked WWF report. WWF claims the report was not finalized and has tried to backtrack. However, the 58-page document has detailed citations and thoroughly explained timelines noting the events that led to the drafting of the report, which by the way, is marked “FINAL.” The catalyst for this report was the MSC certification of certain tuna fisheries in the Indian Ocean. One of the key principles of the original MSC guidelines for certification was that fisheries have a set of harvest control rules (HCRs) that ensure the health of the fishery. WWF now claims there are “several troubling systemic flaws” in the MSC certification process and that the mission appears to have become more about profits from the royalties paid to have the MSC logo than the original mission. That’s a stinging accusation from one of the organization’s original founders. READ MORE

LAST WORD

Thank you for your Year-End donations! Donations are gladly accepted throughout the year. Happy 2017!

Please cut and paste these news alerts/ action alerts on to your own lists and contacts. Help us spread the word and further generate letters of concern, as this can make a big difference in helping to halt a wrongdoing or encourage correct action.

ACTION ALERTS WANTED: MAP News is looking for links to calls to actions/petitions and letter writing campaigns on mangrove issues, tropical coastal communities and other related topics. Not all submissions can be selected, but we look forward to hearing about your work and want to let our readers' voice be heard!
Email submissions to news@mangroveactionproject.org

Action Alerts:

MAP Education Director Martin Keeley’s most recent book is Marvellous Mangroves: Myths and Legends, a compilation of stories from “Mangrove Peoples”—those who live on shorelines where mangroves thrive—from around the world. READ MORE

MAP is happy to announce that we are now accepting orders for our 2017 Children's Mangrove Art Calendar . This is our 16th annual edition of Children's Mangrove Art, and this Calendar is celebrating MAP's 25th Anniversary! Please order your calendars now, and help us celebrate a quarter century of MAP's work to Save the Mangroves!"

The world's largest mangrove forest is in danger from a massive coal plant.UNESCO can put pressure on India and Bangladesh to protect the forest, but they need to see that people around the world are speaking out. Click here to add your voice.

Our new short documentary, Reducing the Risk of Disaster through Nature-Based Solutions : Mangroves

Tell Red Lobster its "Endless shrimp" deal is damaging and unfair to the workers SIGN THE PETITION

“Education In The Mangroves" can now be seen on the PhotoPhilanthropy websitehere!

Read this 10 page history of the development of MAP’s educational curriculum VIEW DOCUMENT

MAP’s e-Cards offer you a unique way to spread the word about MAP’s good works, while sharing beautiful photographs of the mangroves

Donate to MAP via Paypal
Giving could never be easier

It’s the action, not the fruit of the action, that's important. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there'll be any fruit. But that doesn't mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result. —Mahatma Gandhi

VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT

Mira Maude Chouinard, MAP’s Latin America Assistant Project Coordinator, is a graduate of the University of British Columbia with a degree in environmental science and of Humber College with a certificate in international program management. She worked for Falls Brook Centre and coordinated a community resilience and mangrove restoration project in Honduras, in cooperation with local NGOs and the multinational DOLE Food Company. As they encountered issues with the traditional planting method, she discovered MAP and the CBEMR method and was relieved to have found a successful long-term mangrove restoration method. She is fluent in French, English and Spanish. mira.chouinard@gmail.com Marvellous Mangroves: Myths and Legends is Now Available!

Information sheds clear light on shrimp-mangrove connection

Mangrove Action Project

Note to Our Readers:We strive to keep active links in our newsletter. However, due to circumstances beyond our control, occasionally links to stories may become broken. If you find a link to a story is not functioning, please cut and paste the headline into your browser search bar. In most cases you should be able to locate the original story.